Lord Jones, who entered Parliament in 1970 as MP for Alyn and Deeside, recalls being congratulated by Mr Benn on his election address.

He said that Mr Benn, who first became an MP for Bristol South in November 1950 aged 25, supported him during his fight to save Shotton Steelworks and that over the years the pair enjoyed many conversations on ‘steelworkers’ and ‘plane makers’.

Lord Jones said: “My chief memory of Tony Benn is a man of great courtesy and fine aristocratic manners.

“He was a commanding orator in the House of Commons and on any conference platform – you might say he was a spellbinder.

“Tony became very controversial challenging two Prime Ministers on policy and leadership.

“Indeed he locked horns with the great political bruiser, my friend Denis Healey, who just managed to beat Tony for deputy leadership of the Labour Party at the Brighton conference in 1981.

“It was one of the most riveting contests in contemporary political history.”

When Mr Benn was Secretary of State for Industry in the 1970s, Lord Jones met him to discuss the future of the steelworks in Shotton.

Lord Jones added: “I saw a great deal of Tony as an MP and as a minister in my efforts to keep Shotton Steelworks as steel producer.

“He was Secretary of State for Industry and I sometimes sat alongside him in the ministerial conference room urging him not to forget Shotton.

“I also co-operated with him about aerospace. He was the minister who championed the Concorde aircraft made in Bristol.

“I was junior minister championing the first Airbus wings at Broughton.

“Our conversations from 1970 onwards were always about steelworkers and plane makers.”